tiers

No. Tainted by his current mob.

As I have said before in previous posts, the late Dean Bailey used to say that it takes 70 games played as a group to build the sort of cohesion and understanding needed for success. We are getting to this target - Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw, Salem, Harmes, Gawn, TMac(?), Viney, Jetta and maybe others. It is significant that Oliver, Petracca, Brayshaw and Gawn have been prominent in recent Brownlows. McCartney used to say that it takes 5 years to build an AFL footballer. Combine the two and 2020 was supposed to be our year but it will now have to wait for 2021. With good coaching and leadership it's nearly time for this group to burst out and find success. Adding May, Lever, Langdon and Tomlinson plus Choco and Yze's contribution to a team structure that now has winners and stability on all lines makes it look as if they were on the right path. It just takes patience and learning.

In 1965, as reigning premiers, we started 8-0 thanks to a series of close victories. It all came to an end on Queen's Birthday Monday when we were smashed by St Kilda by 63 points at the MCG. Nothing but misery since. It was the day made famous by Allan Jeans masterstroke of selection when he swapped Verdun Howell from FB to FF and Bob Murray from CHF to full back. Murray went on the become a highly regarded full back whereas Howell was already a champion having lost to Bob Skilton in the 1959 Brownlow on countback (it was subsequently awarded to him when the Brownlow rules changed).

6 Gawn - just too, too good 5 Lever = recruit of the century 4 Langdon = recruit of the century 3 Oliver - never stops 2 Salem - grown in poise and smarts 1 Jackson - competes and wins to release Gawn

Navy blue for me. This is the best so-called clash jumper. Royal blue was introduced to coincide with the introduction of colour tv in 1975 when the colour renditioning on the screen was no so good. Clash jumpers are intended to avoid confusion between jumpers. Imagine watching NM and filth in the mud before colour tv arrived. No worries telling them apart. So why do we need modern day coloured clash jumpers? Because it is fashionable in overseas inferior codes and doubles the potential sales. Get rid of them.

Maxed out.

Agreed. Too many scoring opportunities squandered by poor decision making with the ball, too many goals scored by brilliant individual efforts eg Kozzie, Maxie and not enough from good team play based on a game plan that maximises potential for scoring and too few "easy goals" from sharp, clever and fast ball movement from turnovers and kick ins. In 2018 we scored heavily without Jesse so expecting our scoring to improve with Brown and Weid is wishful thinking at best. It is not the players but the system that counts.

Isn't it remarkable how all those who have historically had good techniques can kick well in any conditions. Over and out.

You learn how to control the ball drop and how be balanced for the kick. These techniques apply in all conditions.

Practicing goal kicking in the wind should force players to concentrate and focus on their approach and ball drop. Skills and techniques learnt under pressure will apply even when there is no wind.

Re; Clarrie's treatment. Arms around the waist in the goal square is paid as a free kick even when there is no interference or impedence. What a laugh. Arms around the waist that do impede Clarrie from running to a ball up of throw in is not considered to be worthy of a free kick. With three umpires on the field it surely must be visible to one at least. Time for S Hocking to fix this up.

I watched the start of Christian's segment but, as much as I wanted to watch our boy perform well on TV, I had to change channels because I could not stand Robinson's dumb, insulting and offensive questioning of Christian's future intentions. Should this happen again, Christian should be primed with a quick, pithy response such as "you'll be the last to know", or "I'll let you know when I know" or "my contract is my business so please don't ask again". Or better still alert Whately before the show to control the mouth on his left. It might hurt Christian's media career on 360 but so what? He is a smart boy and will do well wherever he goes post footy. He doesn't need drek like Robbo.

Steve Tingay came on and with his first kick won the game. What a start to a marvelous career. I noticed how often the ball was kicked long into attack and came back out just as fast. Nothing has changed in over 30 years.

There might be 10 v. 11 in a soccer match but a suspension in our great game of real footy still leaves 18 v. 18 on the field in the next match. No comparison with that inferior sport.

No so simple. The average number of free kicks per game has been falling in recent seasons to somewhere in the low 30s total for both teams. With so few free kicks being awarded, for one team to have received 29 more than its opponents in only 2 games is more than a coin toss statistic. Say there are 30 in a match. For Adelaide to have received 29 more than their opponents the numbers equate to 22.25 per game (total 44.5) vs 7.75 per game (total 15.5), a factor of nearly 3 times. For once the Dees are all square although some of us one eyed supporter believe that the Adelaide distortion would be better if it was applied for the benefit of the Dees. There is something more at play and it requires a better analysis than mine.

There is no sensible and credible way to justify a differential of 45 between top and bottom after only 2 rounds. Is there any breakup of the types of free kicks eg. out of bounds on the full vs free kicks earned at the contest, high tackles vs incorrect disposal vs holding the man vs interference in a marking contest etc? I look forward to the AFL's attempts to explain away these differentials.

The curse for taking the grand final away from the MCG. Let the AFL learn. Never again no matter what.

Time to form the Maroons political party and stand for council elections to toss out the greens. Then get rid of the obnoxious rating system. Since when does a junior sporting club have to prove their value to the community. The best role for the council would be to produce a set of guidelines so that Kev and his mates can share the grounds in the area eg. stipulate when the grounds are reserved for the official organised sporting clubs who one would expect to assist in maintaining the grounds and when the ovals are free for others to use subject to a fair and transparent booking system. This would not cater for the ad hoc games that appeal to Kev but would be a start. In any event, when I was young we were happy to play footy on any level grassy ground using school bags or jumpers for goals. More strength to Joan and the team at Fitzroy FC.

Goal kicking is a skill that can be taught and practiced. The components of where to start the run in, how to hold the ball, how to run in, how to drop the ball and how to kick tghe ball can all be taught but does not require constant repetitions. It requires only a proper mindset and an easy, regular and readily repeatable process that follows the player's own rules. I believe that the major impediment to better goal kicking is the now formalised 30 sec rule that ostensibly allows players to get their heart rate down (a la LLoyd) and to set up but also allows for all the doubts and bad habits to intervene. The best goal kickers from days gone by (Lockett, Dunstall, Ablett, Hudson) did not need 30 sec. They were ready to kick as soon as they were in position and had a simple, regular process. Get the basics right and goals will follow.

I was at his first game v. Melbourne in the first round of 1963 at the Junction Oval. The combination of his young age (17), his athleticism and his spring had previously not been seen - he was a genuine one off footballer. To top it off (pun intended) he had a shock of long blonde hair that made him recognisable anywhere. On the day he seemed to dominate the game and yet his team mate Alan Morrow, a short c.185cm ruckman, was judged BOG for a stunning 22 mark game. But all we saw was Ditterich jumping ever higher above the packs.

The umpire went up to Petracca as he prepared to kick after the siren and from the grandstand it seemed as if he was reminded him that any deviation from a straight line would mean a call of "play on". This in fact happened when Petracca moved slightly off the line and the umpires arms went into the air as if calling "play on". A Franklin deviation is one thing, a player adjusting his run up but still kicking over the mark from some distance (where the angles are not improved) should not be penalised. Imagine if this happened after the siren in a close final (heaven forbid a grand final) and the result was overturned. There would be a riot on the ground. The umpires had better clarify this interpretation or the game will suffer. Over to you Gil.

The new manning the mark rule is currently having little effect because the umpires, to their and their coaches credit, are calling play on very quickly so that as soon a the player with the ball moves an inch, or even thinks about it, they call play on. The umpires have also been lenient with the "stand" rule and some teams are now not manning the mark behind the mark where sideways movement does not count. In the end my guess is that, for the reasons above, it will not change footy much but I am always nervous about a trigger happy umpire who awards a 50m penalty with little justification or contrary to what has become accepted practice. As they say it could cost a grand final for some over technical penalty not arising from a contest. One of the most perfect features of our footy is that frees have been awarded from the contest, not from technicalities as is common in most other sports eg offside.

AS stated above Kevin Murray did not play full back. He was too good and too valuable to leave down the back. Mostly half back and on ball. Verdun Howell was belatedly awarded his Brownlow after the VFL/AFL decided to abolish countbacks. On the night Howell came second. Interestingly a few back pockets have won when playing in the back pocket meant something. Bernie Smith of Geelong and John James of Carlton (who played bp that year) and perhaps Brad Hardie of Footscray who played in a number of roles.

Why is there an emphasis on money? Maxie is a champion who either makes a positive contribution or not. The money is irrelevant. I believe he makes a positive contribution and, with some more insight and planning from our coaching department, he could be even more valuable to us, not necessarily by picking up hitouts but by playing a role that maximises his strengths (strategic positioning, contested marking) and allows him to avoid being weighed down by roles that others could play adequately. Maxie is more than a typical ruckman - he could be a change the role.

Centre bounces/throw ups do not favour any ruckman and, as we have seen, clearances don't necessarily follow ruck dominance in the centre. Ball ups at stoppages are also becoming irrelevant as the crowding is too great to allow clean clearances. Boundary throw ins are different. If, and when, S Hocking directs the boundary umpires (now that there are 4) to throw the ball in quickly with a low, fast throw (instead of the slow, high loopy throws seen on the weekend) before a crowd forms then a dominant, extra tall ruckman serviced by smart on-ballers can prevail and add value to the team. However, the maximum value to be gained from Maxie is for him to take contested marks around the ground either to frustrate the opposition in our defence, to provide a get out from the backline and to hold the ball in our forward line. To this end we must train to allow Maxie full freedom to contest without interference from team mates. One out or even one against two means that Maxie can win the ball. It's all in the coaching and game plan.